The savory part of the title speaks to my love of all things savory and corresponding mild to excessive dislike of all things sweet. The savage? That would be my two dogs (delicately furred and feathery sighthounds).
I make my own creations and I conjure up a modified version of the same recipe for the dogs - usually omitting ingredients that would not agree with them and adding in items that add nutrition into their monotonous diet of kibble.

Pages

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

The haven't shut off the power yet (and the guys told me they would give me a heads up before they do) so I have time to get in my lunch post.

I know it is a bit rude to eat while these poor guys are working 3 feet away - but I missed breakfast and I was STARVING.They shut off the water because instead of replacing the faucets as the management informed me - They are actually redoing all of the pipes in the apartment.

So I had to make lunch without the use of running water.

Miso soup with soba noodles and chicken.

I had the last little bit of the miso soup left, so I threw that into a small sauce pan along with some soba noodles. I let the soup simmer until the noodles were tender (about 7 minutes).

Then I remembered I had this little bit of the stuffed chicken divan left.

I chopped up the chicken and tossed it into the pot.

Ten minutes later I was enjoying a nice steaming bowl by my keyboard.

It was an odd combination but it was quick and filled my empty tummy.

I am typing this while 15 guys are soldering copper pipes, installing a new front door, installing a new bedroom window and a new patio door.

The workmen just broke for lunch. I had been feeling like a big doofus for hanging out in the apartment while they worked but since they left my front door wide open (no handle or lock on it yet so there is no way for it to stay closed) - I feel pretty smart about hanging around.I am going to go enjoy slurping my noodles in the blissful (if temporary) quiet.

Monday, May 30, 2011

Orecchiette pasta with bacon and onions topped with shredded Parmesan.

Cleaning makes you hungry!! I crisped up some bacon and set it aside and discarded all of the bacon grease. I caramelized some onions in a skillet with a few drops of olive oil. Then tossed in 1/2 cup of cooked Orecchiette pasta. I added 2 Tbsp. of the pasta water to the pan and let the pasta get coated with the onions.

I separated the fatty part of the bacon from the meat - set the fatty parts aside for the dogs and chopped up the meat.

I shredded some Parmesan on top and sprinkled the bacon on top. This dish was rich but really delicious. The sweetness of the caramelized onions paired beautifully with the saltiness of the bacon.

And for my greens I tossed some frozen spinach and frozen peas with chopped garlic, shredded pieces of teryaki nori and 2 tsp. of mirin and soy sauce.

This dish turned out better than the pasta dish!

Now it's time to get back to cleaning, Ugh((( I am looking forward to embracing an Amish-like aesthetic by the end of the day.

I have had this locally made honey sitting in the cupboard for a while.

It is still in the wax honeycomb. I love eating honey that is still in the wax. You get all the great sweetness of the honey along with the chewy wax. The wax ends up being like a piece of honey flavored gum that you chew until you squeeze every drop of flavor out of it.

My favorite way to eat it is smeared across a lightly buttered piece of toast.

Toast with honey, chopped apple and pineapple.

This apple was so pretty - It was a shame to cut it up((

But it also looked really delicious so I only hesitated for a moment.

I also had a big mug of tea.

This is the last day I have to clean before the workmen arrive at my door tomorrow morning - Yikes((

I was stuck staying off my feet because all the walking on graduation day aggravated my bum foot (( But it was well worth it :-)Happy Memorial Day!

And then I woke up this morning - open the food bin and there are only 3 lonely pieces of kibble. I shake the bin because maybe more kibble will magically appear????No such luck. So, this morning the dogs and I had the same thing for breakfast. Breakfast fried rice.

The title of fried rice is not really accurate since there was no frying involved and I did not add in any green onions which are typically included in fried rice. (Remember onions are bad, bad things for dogs 'cause anemia is kind of a bad thing - or so I hear...)

I started with 1 cup of rice in two cups of water, one cup of frozen peas and several pieces of seasoned nori torn into small pieces in a sauce pan. I set everything to simmer away.

While the rice cooked I scrambled 3 whole eggs, 2 egg whites and 1 Tbsp. of soy milk in a pan.

I had some defrosted pineapple so I gave that a rough chop.

I layered the pineapple in the bottom of the bowls.

After the rice finished cooking, I added in 1 Tbsp. of soy sauce and 1/2 Tbsp. of oyster sauce. Then I portioned out the rice mixture into the bowls.

The next layer was the scrambled eggs and I mixed everything together.

The sweet and saltiness of this dish was a great combination.

The dogs were great fans of this dish - they gobbled down everything including the pineapple.

I also had a cup of tea but per usual I forgot to take a picture of it - because some trends are too good to break :-)

Thursday, May 26, 2011

4 carrots, chopped1 clove of garlic, minced1/4 yellow onion, chopped3 cups of water1 bay leafa pinch of cumina pinch of thymea pinch of paprikaa pinch of salta pinch of black pepper1 Tbsp. of Tofutti cream cheese3/4 cup of unsweetened soy milk2 Tbsp. of Rotel chopped tomatoes and chilies 1 tsp. of coconut oilI put the oil in a sauce pan over medium heat. Then the onions went in and cooked until translucent. The garlic went in next and when that became fragrant, I added in the rest of the spices.

Then I added in the water, chopped carrots and brought everything to a simmer. I wanted the liquid to reduce to concentrate the flavors - so I let it simmer for 30 minutes.Then I broke out the immersion blender (take the pan off the heat for this) and pureed everything till it was smooth. Then on low heat, I stirred in the Tofutti cream cheese. When the cream cheese had melted into the soup, I poured in the soy milk. After everything was warmed through I served up my soup.

This morning, while I was making a billion trips to the dumpster, I kept passing my neighbors. It turns out that 3 of them stayed home today to finish clearing their patios and they were all frantic. Panic is always more fun practiced en masse.

It would be easier if we could leave some stuff on the patio but since they need to re-pour the concrete, everything has to be removed. I am sure you were desperate to know that.I stopped at lunchtime for some sustenance. I had these ingredients on hand:

Garlic, onion, black beans and chopped tomatoes.

I also had a half a packet of this spice mix:

In a deep skillet I added 1/4 chopped yellow onion and 2 cloves of chopped garlic with some olive oil on medium heat.

After the onions started to soften, I added in the garlic and 2 teaspoons of the spice packet.

Then I added 1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed and 1 1/2 cups of the chopped tomatoes. I also shredded one carrot and added that along with 1 cup of water into the skillet. While I let that simmer I put 1 cup of rice in a sauce pan to simmer.

I think it turned out well :-)

My lunch portion was heavy on the spiced black beans and light on the rice. The portion pictured above is one I made to photograph. It just looked better with more rice:-)

*Had to pause for a bit - it started to rain and I had to scramble to get the couple of boxes I have left in under the overhang*Since the beans turned out so well I am including the recipe.